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PH withdrawal from ICC to worsen impunity, groups say

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By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — As the Philippines withdrawal from the International Criminal Court takes effect today, rights groups warned of escalating human rights abuses and further impunity.

Senatorial candidate and long-time human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s “self-serving” move. In his speech March 14 at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), Colmenares said Duterte intends to evade accountability for his crimes against poor Filipinos.

The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.

Duterte announced the country’s exit from the ICC after the tribunal started its preliminary examination of the charge of crimes against humanity filed against the President. Two complaints were filed against Duterte — one by Jude Sabio, lawyer of self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Edgar Matobato, and another by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, counsel of families of victims of extrajudicial killings.

READ: Why kin of drug war victims charged Duterte for mass murder before ICC

Still, Colmenares explained that the withdrawal has no impact on the pending complaints filed against Duterte.

He cited Article 127 Rome Statute of the ICC stating that “a State shall not be discharged, by reason of its withdrawal, from the obligations arising from this Statute while it was a Party to the Statute.” The Rome Statute further states that a State’s withdrawal shall not affect any criminal investigations and proceedings which were commenced prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective, nor shall it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which was already under consideration by the Court prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective.”

Colmenares said the ICC has jurisdiction over Duterte because domestic laws provide the Philippine president immunity from suit.

For its part, human rights alliance Karapatan underscored Duterte’s “double-talk” with regard to the ICC.

“Duterte previously denied ordering extrajudicial killings, only to admit to it in several live telecast. He has also expressed willingness to subject himself to investigation under the ICC, but withdrew the country from the Rome Statute. This government has denied perpetrating human rights violations while persecuting human rights advocates and silencing the voices of victims and their kin who counter the State’s repeated denials,” Roneo Clamor, Karapatan deputy secretary general, said in a statement.

“The Duterte government is run by pathological liars and militarists who are corrupt to the core, able to subvert laws and mechanisms to evade accountability,” Clamor said.

In a separate statement, NUPL President Edre Olalia said that with the Philippines’ exit from the ICC, “victims will again be deprived of an alternative arena for redress.”

In lieu of the ICC, Olalia said other means of exacting accountability could be explored, such as the creation of a special tribunal sanctioned by the United Nations or through people’s tribunals. #

Govt should be transparent, release 9 signed foreign loan agreements — IBON

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Research group IBON said the Duterte administration should immediately release to the public all nine foreign loan agreements it has already signed for infrastructure projects, especially for the upcoming Kaliwa Dam project with China.

The group raised concerns of government’s transparency since it has denied IBON’s previous requests for copies of the loan agreements.  

The government has an obligation to disclose these contracts as a matter of public interest and protecting the country’s sovereignty, the group said.

The nine foreign loan agreements signed by the government include the Chico River Pump Irrigation and New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam with China; Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement, Cavite Industrial Area Flood Management, Metro Manila Subway, and North-South Railway with Japan; Panguil Bay Bridge; and the new Cebu International Container Port with Korea.

IBON research head Rosario Bella Guzman said that there is lack of transparency of government offices to disclose loan agreements signed by the government. 

IBON wrote a letter to the Department of Finance (DOF) in June 2018 requesting copies of the loan agreement for the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project.

The DOF responded that the contract has a confidentiality clause and that the agency is not allowed to disclose details of the contract to any third party.

Loan agreements should be disclosed since the projects are public infrastructure which are supposed to be serving public interest, said Guzman.

The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, with the provisions that could be disadvantageous to the country, may become the gold standard of other loan agreements, Guzman added.

Guzman said that the contracts for other Chinese loans such as the one for the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project would follow the template of onerous provisions found in the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project.

The loan agreement for the Kaliwa Dam which was signed in November 2018 is yet to be made public and IBON has yet to receive a copy of the loan agreement it requested from concerned offices.

Guzman added that the Php12.2-billion Kaliwa Dam will be 85 percent funded by China official development assistance (ODA), in other words, debt that will be paid for by the public in the future.

“China loans are one-sided and impose onerous conditions, which could result in the Philippines virtually giving up its sovereignty,” said Guzman.

IBON previously raised questions on the Chico River Pump Irrigation loan agreement being governed by China laws, and that any arbitration or suit shall be heard at the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Court (CIETAC).

“Natural resources, including water, are the subject of these loan agreements, which makes it more problematic if conditions are lopsided in favor of foreign governments, creditors and investors,” Guzman added.

Instead of prioritizing the attraction of one-sided foreign investments and loans for its infrastructure program, the government should put national interest and public welfare first over local and foreign big business interests.

Government can start by subjecting the loan agreements it is signing to public scrutiny and declining those that are not mutually beneficial and do not contribute to the country’s domestic economic development, IBON concluded. #

OVERCOME CYBER-MARTIAL LAW

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POOLED EDITORIAL

People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya)

12 March 2019

March 12 is World Day against Cyber Censorship, when advocates around the globe will call for an Internet that is not only accessible to all, but also free from restrictions on free speech. It is specially relevant to us today, when our nation is practically under cyber martial law and another tyranny.

The Duterte regime is using every means to silence dissent, criticism and free expression: from threats, incarceration to killings, to cyber warfare. The main target of this latest assault are the alternative media that mostly via online disseminate reports and views on events and issues that are rarely covered, if at all, by the dominant media. The goal is to deny a public hungry for information the reports and stories that it needs to understand what is happening in a country besieged by lies and disinformation.

The distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) against the websites of Bulatlat, Kodao Productions, Pinoy Weekly, and Altermidya began in December and have not stopped since. DDoS is a malicious form of cyber-attack that aims to overload a website and make it inaccessible.

The websites of Arkibong Bayan, Manila Today and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) have also been attacked, and so have the websites of human rights group Karapatan, Arkibong Bayan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and lately, Ibon Foundation.

Qurium, the Sweden-based media foundation assisting Bulatlat, Altermidya, Karapatan and Pinoy Weekly, has established that the same techniques and botnets are being used against these websites. An independent review of Kodao Productions’ traffic logs also revealed the same attack signatures.  Quirium noted that it has not seen the same scale of DDoS attacks in any other country.

The details of the attacks have been reported to the National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. But the agency has remained alarmingly silent on the issue.

We have every reason to believe that these attacks are state-sponsored. In the past two years, cyber warfare has taken the form of vilification and redbaiting of progressive leaders and organizations through social media.

The Duterte administration identifies “strategic communication” as one of the pillars of its “whole of nation” approach against dissent and criticism, in which the regime’s counterinsurgency program will infiltrate and target social media and rid cyberspace of  “communist propaganda.”

The cyber attacks are part and parcel of the ongoing assault by the administration on the media. From threatening to revoke the franchises of big media companies to the attempt at the incarceration of Rappler executive Maria Ressa, to the killing of community journalists in the past months, the Duterte administration will stop at nothing to silence the Fourth Estate and its critics.

But Duterte and his keyboard and old-media army of mercenaries are hell-bent not only in silencing their perceived enemies, but also in expanding the echo chambers they maintain to create the illusion of continued support. On one hand, they attack news websites and journalists in all possible ways. On the other, they maintain a horde of fake supporters, employing what is known as “astroturfing” or the practice of creating the illusion of mass support by employing bots and trolls.

The alternative media have consistently upheld journalism for the people and given voice to the marginalized and the oppressed. Because of the political and economic interests of the corporate media, it is the alternative media that are discharging the democratic imperative of providing the information Filipinos need in this hour of national peril.  

We enjoin everyone from all walks of life to unite against, to expose, and to work together in stopping the attacks against all media. We should exhaust all means to make those responsible accountable for their foul deeds.  There are many technical and legal remedies that can and must be pursued to combat and halt the unabated DDoS attacks, including mirroring target websites to keep them online.

To defend press freedom is to defend the people’s right to know. As our fellow journalists and advocates continue to expose the truths on the attacks on indigenous communities, workers, farmers, and other groups, we ask all freedom-loving Filipinos to stand with us. Only through the strength and power of our unity can we defeat these brazen attempts at silencing protest and suppressing the truth.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2443783208966707&id=216155061729544

Media groups warn against publication of Duterte’s narco-list without verification

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Media groups cautioned journalists and editors against publishing Malacañan’s list of public officials allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade.

In a joint statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines; Philippine Press Institute; Center for Community Journalism and Development; Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism; Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility; Mindanews and the Freedom for Media, Freedom for All Network said that both the government and the media can not play fast and loose with due process and rule of law.

The groups said that, without verification, the publication of the so-called narco-politicians list including 82 candidates in the May elections is a denial of due process and presumption of innocence for those on the list.

The groups added that the hasty publication of the list is a violation of the journalistic values of fairness, accuracy, and independence.

“Instead of rushing to print or air, we now urge all our colleagues to exercise utter prudence and fastidious judgment in evaluating this ‘story,’” the groups said.

The media organizations said publication of the government’s list redounds to mere trial by publicity of political rivals, and a publicity stunt for the public and the news media’s transient amusement without convincing proof or cases filed in the courts.

“Such naming and shaming calls attention to the possible invasion of privacy, as well as denial of due process and presumption of innocence, for those on the list,” the groups explained.

“Once published or broadcast, the travesty will be magnified as a collective disregard for the rule of law, and a clear breach of the time-honored traditions of fair, accurate, and independent journalism, by the news media,” they explained.

’82 candidates’

Duterte’s list, based on still to be verified intelligence reports and wiretapped information received from foreign governments, reportedly includes 82 candidates.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino, however, said he is against the release of the list, adding that his agency has yet to re-validate it.

“As of now, there is an instruction for PDEA to disclose list. [But] I can’t do it right now because we have not finished the re-validation of the narco-politicians,” Aquino said.

Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez also said the government must “convict first” before those on the list could be disqualified as candidates.

The media groups urged the National Bureau of Investigation to validate the list’s contents before the authorities could build cases and file the appropriate charges against the alleged narco-politicians.

“Rather than seek publicity for its unverified ‘narco list’ story, the Duterte Administration should waste no time to build cases, file charges, prosecute, and send to jail the guilty, if indeed it had proof and evidence on hand,” the media groups said.

‘Verify, verify, verify’ 

The media groups said publishing Duterte’s list may open news outfits to libel suits should those named choose to file charges as Panelo suggested.

They said that taking Malacañan’s word at face value, reporting its claims uncritically, and rushing to print or broadcast just a list that tags people without proof are not without serious consequences.

“All these could put the life and liberty of persons in serious peril; all these could put the ethics and credibility of the journalism profession in serious doubt,” they said.

“Verify, verify, verify. And do so independently. That is the first thing that the news media can and should do, before running a list that tags and links people to hateful crimes, on the mere say-so of the President and his political lieutenants,” they added.

“We, journalists and media organizations can, at the very least, refuse to play along when the government and those who are supposed to lead the nation play fast and loose with due process and the rule of law,” the groups said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

International club honors NDFP’s Randy Malayao and Rey Casambre with peace awards

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Rotary International honored two National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants—one recently martyred, the other in jail—with peace awards in a ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center Wednesday, February 27.

Felix Randy Malayao, brutally shot to death while asleep inside a bus in Nueva Vizcaya last January 30, and Rey Claro Casambre, arrested while on his way home by police and military agents last December 7,  were given Ang Kapayapaan (Akap) Awards by the club’s International District 3830 based in Fort Bonifacio Global City.

The district’s Akap Awards is given to individuals and groups for their distinct contribution in advancing the cause of peace, the club said.

Rotary International’s Ang Kapayapaan Awards poster.

“This is specifically intended to pay tribute to the advocates of the resolution of the homegrown armed conflict on our soil,” Rotary Club District 3830 president Raul M. Francia said in a letter to Malayao’s family.

The awards is one of Rotary International’s many ways to inspire others to be of greater service to humanity and give modest share to the arduous task of bringing about sustainable peace, he added.  

As NDFP consultants, Malayao and Casambre were NDFP’s most active advocates, attending numerous peace forums in the Philippines and abroad.

Both attended formal peace negotiations in Europe since August 2016 as well as working group meetings in the Philippines.

Relatives of Randy Malayao receive the award in his behalf. (Photo by Joseph Cuevas/Kodao)

The two awardees participated in the crafting of land reform and rural development as well as national industrialization and economic development agreements with the government peace panel.

But Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation No. 360 in November 2017 terminating peace negotiations with the NDFP.

In a bid to restart negotiations, the NDFP and GRP negotiating panels jointly crafted a stand down agreement in June 2018 as well as guidelines and procedures of an interim peace agreement and a draft amnesty proclamation for hundreds of political prisoners.

Duterte again cancelled the negotiations after, however, forcing most other NDFP peace consultants to take safety precautions, preventing them from carrying duties related to the peace negotiations.

NDFP consultants Adelberto Silva and Vicente Ladlad were arrested by government forces in October and November 2018 respectively.

Another consultant, Rafael Baylosis was arrested in January 2018 but was released earlier this year after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court dismissed charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against him.

Only Malayao and Casambre remained available for numerous speaking engagements mostly organized by church groups and schools until the latter’s arrest and the former’s assassination.

Rey Casambre’s daughter and sister receive the award in his behalf. (Photo by Joseph Cuevas/Kodao)

Last week, Duterte again hinted he is open to restarting the peace negotiations.

Rotary’s other Akap awardees included Government of the Republic of the Philippines chief negotiator Silvestre H. Bello III, resigned Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Mohagher Igbal and former Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and Davao Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

One Billion Rising 2019 condemns abuse of women and children

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Women’s groups Gabriela and Babae Ako, along with other progressive organizations gathered for the annual One Billion Rising (OBR) 2019 at Rajah Sulayman Park in Manila last February 16.

With the theme “Rise, Resist, Unite! Labanan ang abuso sa Babae, Bata at Bayan”, the event condemned what it called the Rodrigo Duterte administration’s misogynist and tyrannical attacks against women and people.

According to Gabriela, OBR 2019 was part of the continuing global campaign to end violence against women and to show solidarity with women from all around the world who are rising and raging against all forms of violence against women, especially those perpetrated by the state.

Through street dancing and protest, the groups vowed to intensify their struggle for women’s dignity, democracy and people’s welfare. (Video by Joseph Cuevas)

‘Paano na ang mga magsasaka?’

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President Rodrigo Duterte has recently approved the Rice Tarrication Law, allowing massive rice importation into the country.

Cartoon by Mark Suva/Kodao

Groups demand junking of TRAIN Law

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Progressive organizations and Partylist groups held protested at the office of Bureau of Internal Revenue in Quezon City Wednesday, February 12, demanding the junking of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN) and Oil Deregulation Law.

Saying both laws have severely eroded the people’s economic wellbeing, the protesters also demanded an increase in the wages of both private (P750 per day) and public (P16,000 per month) workers.

In his speech, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr urged candidates in the coming local and national elections in May to fight for people’s issues.

Makabayan senatorial candidate Atty. Neri Colmenares for his part vowed to push what he calls the people’s agenda if elected in the Senate. He added that he will protect ordinary Filipinos against high prices and taxes. (Video by Joseph Cuevas)

On Maria Ressa’s arrest

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Rappler CEO Maria Ressa was arrested last night when the courts were already closed, preventing her from posting bail and forcing her to spend a night in jail. Ressa and Rappler are facing other charges after President Rodrigo Duterte expressed anger over the media outfit’s critical reportage of his government.

Journos raise alarm over anonymous drug lists

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BACOLOD CITY – The media community in Negros Occidental is up in arms following the circulation since late last week of at least three lists of purported “drug protectors” that included at least 15 of their colleagues.

The journalists said they are worried that the circulation of the anonymous lists could put their colleagues’ lives in danger.

The statement, issued by the Negros Press Club and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines – Bacolod Chapter demanded that “authorities – both law enforcement and the civil government – uphold the rule of law and ensure the safety of all citizens, especially the innocent” by investigating and prosecuting those responsible for creating and spreading the lists.

Aside from the media personalities, the anonymous lists included a party-list congressman, two town mayors, a vice mayor, four councilors, three of them from Bacolod City, several active and retired policemen, and supposed “drug personalities.”

However, in a unity statement, the local media community noted “the inconsistencies and seeming lack of logic in the composition of these lists,” which were basically the same but for some names that were replaced by others.

This, said the statement, indicated that the lists “were drawn up by conflicting parties out to destroy each other while, at the same time, attempting to muddle their tracks by including random names, including our colleagues.”

The lists emerged close to a month after President Rodrigo Duterte, attending a private birthday party in this city, accused the then Bacolod chief of police, Francis Ebreo, and city councilor Ricardo Tan of involvement in drugs.Duterte did not offer proof to back up his allegations.

Ebreo was also sacked from his post. The Negros media statement alluded to this, saying, “We have also seen how even ranking city and law enforcement officials have been arbitrarily accused of involvement in drugs without any valid proof being presented.”

Both Ebreo, who has also been accused in the December ambush of a lawyer whose fiancé was killed, and Tan, who himself survived an ambush, also in December, and has since gone on leave, were also named in the anonymous lists.

“The first of these lists tagged those named as ‘subject for neutralization,’ a euphemism for killings, a serious threat considering that all three include the names of lawyer Rafael Atutubo and SPO (Senior Police Officer) 4 Oscar Exaltado, who were both murdered by still unknown gunmen,” the statement said.

Atutubo was killed last August while Exaltado, deputy chief of a station in Bacolod, was gunned down last month.

The Negros media noted that “even as the war on drugs claimed thousands of lives all over the country, almost all of the victims were deprived of their right to due process, “Bacolod City has relatively been spared the bloodshed – until recently, that is,” the statement added.

The journalists said that the anonymous lists were “unacceptable to us, not only as journalists but as citizens of this country who share and deserve to enjoy the rights guaranteed by our Constitution and the laws of the land.

“No one, and we mean no one, should be subjected to trial by publicity and, worse, punished without being accorded due process,” the groups said. #